


The End of Jack Harkness

by SnootyMcSnootykins



Category: Doctor Who (2005), Torchwood
Genre: M/M, Minor spoilers for Doctor Who episode: Gridlock, Minor spoilers for Torchwood episode: Children of Earth-Day Four, Non-sad death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-25
Updated: 2015-04-25
Packaged: 2018-03-25 16:28:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3817198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnootyMcSnootykins/pseuds/SnootyMcSnootykins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everything comes to an end eventually, even the great Captain Jack Harkness. That isn't necessarily a bad thing; not when you've lived as many lifetimes as he has, and the end often leads to a new beginning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The End of Jack Harkness

Death is inevitable; no matter how much a person runs from it, it will always catch up. Most people fear death, and fight it with every fibre of their being while others embrace it or even crave it. Those who live in suffering, or have seen too much or even lived too long do not run away but towards death. Even the great Captain Jack Harkness, who has lived a million life times and danced between the worlds of life and death so many times his feet ache, must finally concede defeat and surrender himself to the darkness, content at least in the knowledge that he’d done one last good deed and helped his oldest friend before letting go. When the ties of life finally tire of pulling him back to the world of the living he accepts it not with regret for the life he is leaving behind, but with contempt in knowing his fight is over.

 

It doesn’t register to him straight away that he isn’t coming back this time; he floats through the void peacefully for what could be anything between seconds and days, waiting for the painfully familiar sensation of drawing first breath yet again, his lungs feeling as though they’d been filled with glass each time it happens. He dreads the prospect and wishes instead to remain as he is, a soul disconnected from what remains of his body, and for the first time in eons the universe grants his wish.

 

Realization settles into his mind like a lightning strike- been there, done that- and a gleeful shock ripples through him as slowly, bit by bit, he relinquishes all the pain he’d gathered through his extended life. It takes time but that’s fine, he wants to put off the boring loneliness that he knows the vast darkness will bring and the reprieve offered by sifting through his thoughts is a welcomed one. The most challenging pain to let go of, the one he has always held so close to his heart, is the one of guilt for his brother. He battles with it for what could be hours if he had any sense of time anymore, and while forgiveness is still out of reach he allows himself to accept that which he cannot change; he admits to himself that there is no way he could have saved his dear younger brother.

 

As his acceptance seeps into his tired mind, he fails to notice a singular light breaking through the emptiness. It starts out no bigger than the size of a pin head but it grows rapidly, blindingly bright after who knows how long of steady darkness. It terrifies Jack as equally as it excites him because god he’s always loved exploring the unknown, and he couldn’t run away even if he wanted to because he’s not a physical being and there’s no ground beneath his feet so it’s all he can do to brace himself before the white light- so bright, so very very bright- swallows him whole and then-

 

And then he has ground beneath his feet, and the fact that it’s a solid white like the walls and the roof is lost on him because he has _feet_ again which are attached to legs and hips and a chest and he was more than just a great big head again. He was as human as he’d ever been and he would have gladly kissed himself given the opportunity, beguiled laughter falling from his mouth in a voice he’d missed so much, so very human again.

 

Though it was nothing compared to the next voice to reach his ears, contorted with an accent which had died out amongst the human race a millennium ago, saying; “are you just going to stand there all day, then?”

 

The smile on Jack’s face- etched in so deep he didn’t think it would ever leave again- only widened further as he slowly looked up to the well-dressed man a few feet ahead of him. “Ianto Jones,” he distantly heard himself say as he strode towards one of the most beautiful sights he’d ever laid tired eyes on. He stopped just a foot away, a tentative hand raising its self up from his side and hovering just over that young face, aged not a day since they’d last been together.

 

“So you haven’t forgotten me, then,” Ianto spoke in a way that was simultaneously gentle and teasing, making Jack’s heart clench in a way he’d long since forgotten about. A warm hand took Jack’s and brought it to an equally warm cheek that the Captain had been afraid to touch, terrified that he’d disrupt the illusion and cause this wonderful dream to fade away but it was so, so real. A hysterical laugh bubbled up in his throat as tears of joy threatened to form in his eyes, grin so wide it was practically splitting his face in half.

 

“God, no. How the hell could I forget you? Your coffee is still the best I’ve ever tasted,” he joked, attempting to ease the tension built up in the air and was rewarded for his efforts with a bright laugh before eager lips were pushing sweetly against his own- by the gods he had missed kissing- in a way that resembled a half-remembered dream. He was happy to re-familiarise himself with the other man as he returned the gesture, pulling back only when Ianto did, the Welshman wearing a matching smile.

 

“We should get a move on,” his dear Ianto said, “you have a lot of old friends and lovers waiting to see you, Jack,” he wanted to protest, hesitant to release the former tea-boy from the grip his arms had made around Ianto’s waist and still so very afraid this was all a beautiful dream, but Ianto wound their arms together and sent a smile in his direction that only further cemented the knowledge in his head that this had to be real. There was no way a mere copy could replicate the adoration and loyalty that expression held.

 

As Jack finally conceded, eager to see all the people he’d loved in some way or another again, he couldn’t help but think how fitting it was that Ianto would be the one to guide him into the afterlife. Ianto was always taking care of him, after all.

 

 


End file.
